Zenzedi News

TUESDAY, Nov. 15, 2016 – In a bit of good news, the rate of diagnoses for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) among U.S. preschoolers has leveled off, a new study finds. At the same time, the prescribing rate of stimulant medications for these young patients has also stayed steady, a promising trend that researchers credit to treatment guidelines that were introduced in 2011. The guidelines, issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), called for a standardized approach to diagnosis, and recommended behavior therapy – not drugs – as the first-line therapy for preschoolers. "There [was] a concern that preschoolers get too much behavioral diagnosis and medications for behavior problems," explained study author Dr. Alexander Fiks. He is associate medical director of the Pediatric Research Consortium at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. One in every three children ... Read more

MONDAY, Feb. 29, 2016 – Young male athletes under parental pressure to succeed are more likely to use banned substances to boost their sports performance, a new study finds. Researchers at the University of Kent in England asked 129 young male athletes, average age 17, about their attitudes on "doping" – the use of prohibited drugs, such as steroids, hormones or stimulants, to boost athletic ability. These substances, sometimes called performance-enhancing drugs, can potentially alter the human body and biological functions. However, they can be extremely harmful to a person's health, experts warn. In addition, the study participants were also asked about four different aspects of perfectionism. The four areas were: parental pressure; self-striving for perfection; concerns about making mistakes; and pressure from coaches. Only parental pressure was linked to positive feelings about ... Read more

FRIDAY, Nov. 20, 2015 – Teenagers who take drugs like Adderall and Ritalin to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are twice as likely to be bullied as their peers who don't have ADHD, a new study suggests. The risk of being bullied is even greater if the teens sell, trade or give away their medicines, researchers found. However, the research also raises questions about why these kids are targets of frequent taunting or aggression by their peers. Is it teens' access to drugs that eggs on bullies, or something else? "I think it's fair to say that bullying is a potential risk that's associated with stimulant treatment for ADHD," said Quyen Epstein-Ngo, a research assistant professor at the University of Michigan Institute for Research on Women and Gender, and the study's lead author. But Linda Cottler, chair of the epidemiology department at the University of Florida, ... Read more

FRIDAY, Aug. 14, 2015 – The number of American children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is rising, U.S. government experts say. And it's important for the disorder to be recognized and treated. Untreated ADHD can cause serious problems for children, such as falling behind in school, difficulty making and keeping friends, and having conflicts with parents, according to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Children with untreated ADHD have more emergency room visits and are more likely to have self-inflicted injuries than those who receive treatment, according to a news release from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. In addition, teens with untreated ADHD are more likely to take risks, such as drinking and driving, and have twice as many traffic crashes as those who receive treatment, the FDA said. The number of American children aged 4 to 17 ... Read more

WEDNESDAY, May 20, 2015 – The number of U.S. children and teens being treated for mental health issues has risen by about 50 percent in the past 20 years – with most of those kids having relatively mild symptoms, a new study finds. The research, published in the May 21 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, comes at a time of growing concern over young people's mental health treatment. In particular, some worry that kids with milder issues are being overtreated with antidepressants, stimulants (such as those used for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) and antipsychotic drugs, said lead researcher Dr. Mark Olfson, a professor of clinical psychiatry at Columbia University in New York City. According to Olfson, his findings suggest that kids with less serious symptoms account for a large share of young people getting mental health care – whether that means medication or ... Read more

FRIDAY, May 1, 2015 – Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have an increased risk of a certain type of eating disorder, according to a new study. The eating disorder is called loss of control eating syndrome (LOC-ES). As the name implies, people with this disorder sometimes can't stop eating, even if they want to, according to the researchers from the Johns Hopkins Children's Center in Baltimore. Their study included 79 children between the ages of 8 and 14. The kids were assessed for ADHD and the eating disorder. Those with ADHD were 12 times more likely to have the eating disorder than those without ADHD, the study revealed. Among overweight and obese children, those with LOC-ES were seven times more likely to have ADHD than those without the eating disorder. Also, children who scored higher on tests of impulsivity were more likely to have the eating ... Read more

FRIDAY, Dec. 19, 2014 – Injectable drug users who also use cocaine and amphetamines have nearly double the suicide attempt rate of other substance users, a new study finds. "We know that substance use is associated with the risk of suicide attempt and completed suicide," Didier Jutras-Aswad, a psychiatry professor at the University of Montreal, said in a university news release. "However, there are many different profiles of drug users. We wanted to know who among substance users were actually more likely to attempt suicide." The researchers studied 1,200 adults who had injected drugs within the previous six months. In surveys, researchers asked them questions about drug use and suicide attempts. At the start of the study, 6 percent of participants said they'd tried to commit suicide within the past six months, a much higher rate than in the general population. Participants were then ... Read more

MONDAY, June 30, 2014 – Children suffering from attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are more than twice as likely to try and abuse drugs, a new analysis finds. However, that does not mean that the medications that are prescribed to treat the most common childhood disorder in the United States play a part in that increased risk. In fact, "one of the main points [of the finding] is that treating ADHD both with behavioral techniques and medications seems to lower the risk of substance abuse," said analysis co-author Dr. Sharon Levy, director of the adolescent substance abuse program at Boston Children's Hospital. Although stimulants used to treat ADHD can be addictive, there is no evidence that using them increases the risk of substance abuse, Levy said. These medications include amphetamines, such as Adderall or Dexedrine, and methylphenidate (Concerta, Metadate CD or ... Read more

FRIDAY, June 20, 2014 – Drugs used to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) do not increase the risk of suicide attempts or suicide, and may actually provide a protective effect, a new study suggests. Prior research had hinted that ADHD drugs might raise the risk of suicidal behavior, according to the authors of the new report. However, they believe that the findings of those studies were questionable due to their studies' small size or the methods used. The new study, led by Henrik Larsson of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, included all of the nearly 38,000 people in Sweden diagnosed with ADHD between 1960 and 1996. Larsson's team tracked their rates of suicidal behaviors between 2006 through 2009, at times when they were taking ADHD drugs or not taking the medications. The result: The study found no evidence that taking ADHD drugs raised the risk of ... Read more

MONDAY, Sept. 30 – Doctors don't seem to be as quick as they once were to reach for their prescription pads when treating preschoolers for mental troubles, a new study shows. The research, published online Sept. 30 in the journal Pediatrics, looked at recent trends in the use of psychotropic medications – drugs that alter mood or behavior – in children between the ages of 2 and 5. After reaching a peak between 2002 and 2005, the use of drugs such as stimulants and antidepressants to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and depression, respectively, leveled off between 2006 and 2009, even though diagnoses of those disorders climbed over the same time period. The study suggests that doctors may be using treatments such as behavioral therapy and counseling, instead of prescriptions, to help young kids. "Our study couldn't determine that, but that's my biggest hope, that ... Read more